Survivor
by melinda08
Summary: Early s 3. In a quiet moment alone in her cell, Carol shares part of Sophia's story with Daryl, and she promises her daughter and herself that she would do for Rick what a certain someone tried to do for her. Slightest hint of Caryl...but mainly a Carol POV story.


_It had been a long, hard nine months for Carol Peletier. The pregnancy itself had been a surprise, and the worst part was how this beautiful little girl she was now holding in her arms came to be. Suffice to say, Ed's "seducing her", or at least that's what he bragged about to his friends, was no act of love. It was only meant to hurt, humiliate, weaken and destroy the way Carol felt about herself._

_And for a long time, it worked. She was so embarrassed of how her child had been conceived, so many options ran through her mind. Of course, she would keep the child. During her pregnancy there was one time she actually had called a battered woman's shelter, made arrangements to stay, but when she got there, the bed they'd reserved for her had been taken by another case, a "higher priority" one. It kind of figured, she thought sadly as she drove back to the house-not a home- that she shared with Ed._

_And like John Lennon once sang, life was what happened when you were busy making other plans. Ed was home early, after quitting his job because, to quote him, they were all just a bunch of smart alecs with degrees but no brains. They treated him poorly, picked on him, and expected him to do the job of the "illegals"- his word._

_So behind Ed's back, Carol went to the welfare department. It wasn't her proudest moment, but she needed the money, and insurance for the pregnancy. She made sure to check the mail every month on the first, sometimes waiting on the porch for the mailman to arrive, just so Ed wouldn't catch on._

_Finally, after about seven months, Carol was proud of herself. She'd saved enough to rent an apartment for herself and the new baby. It wouldn't be much, just a simple one bedroom, but she'd done it._

_So she went to her hiding spot for the money- in a small envelope buried in a box of books and magazines; Ed was never a reader, so she figured it would be safe there. She was wrong._

_Apparently a friend of Ed's had seen her talking and shaking hands with the landlord, and by the looks of the home, Ed had torn apart every nook and cranny trying to find her secret stash of cash._

_She closed her eyes, fully prepared for the wrath by his palm, but instead, Ed just sneered. He went out on a drinking binge, not coming home for a couple of weeks. So much for her independence day._

_0000_

_But now, with only her, her daughter and the nurse in the room, Carol had found something she'd never felt before- pure love. As she looked into the eyes of the little one, Carol just couldn't stop smiling. This was her baby, her love, her pride and joy, and no matter what Ed said or did, the most important thing was she was now a mother. She would do anything to protect her daughter._

_0000_

_Sophia. That's what she would name her daughter. She could have asked Ed's opinion, but on that day, it wasn't his to give. In fact, Carol waited until the time she and Sophia were ready to leave the hospital to tell anyone her daughter's name. It had been a secret, just between her and Sophia, and she had liked it that way._

_0000_

"_Why is Daddy so mad at you?" Little five year old Sophia approached her mom, who was using some ice wrapped in a cloth for the mark Ed had left on her face._

_Carol took a deep breath. "That's just the way your daddy is."_

"_Is he mad at me?" Sophia asked with innocent eyes._

_Just the thought that her daughter was scared of her own father, wondering what would happen to her if she made her daddy mad was enough to break Carol's heart. "You'll always have Mommy, Sophia. I promise, I won't ever let anything bad happen to you."_

_Sophia took Carol's hand. "I love you, Mommy."_

_Carol smiled. "I love you too, sweetheart. You'll always be Mommy's angel."_

0000

Daryl couldn't quite believe what Carol had just shared with him. Actually, he could, since he knew better than most how mean daddies could be. He didn't really know Carol that well- he hadn't been with the group too long before Merle went on that fatal run and disappeared.

Daryl didn't really say much; what could he say? He knew just as well as Sophia had figured out that daddies could be mean. Just the fact that Carol, in her cell at the prison and rocking baby Judith to sleep, had shared that with him meant something. What, he didn't know. Ever since, well, ever since the farm, Carol hadn't really talked much of Sophia. Once Judith was born he couldn't speak for everyone else of course, but he'd kind of wondered if seeing a new baby girl would hurt Carol.

If it had, she wasn't showing it. As Daryl watched Carol just smile innocently at Rick's baby, taking care of Judith as Rick was clearly struggling, to say the least...well, he didn't have to have a degree to know that meant something.

Finally, Carol looked up and caught Daryl watching her. Obviously it had embarrassed him, for he quickly muttered a "good night" and then shut the door to her cell behind him.

She watched on, confused, but then the sound of Judith's cooing brought her back to her task at hand.

She held Judith close to her, and smiled contently. The world may have changed every one of them, but it couldn't take away her memories. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure what chance this innocent little baby would have, but she would do for Judith and Rick what a certain someone had once done for her.

She'd look after the little baby, watch her, do everything in her power to keep that little one safe.

After all, it was through the group and a certain member that she'd come to see that she had something to offer.

Seeing Judith yawn inspired Carol to lay her down in the makeshift bassinet, and she pushed it as close to her cot as she could. Let Rick take the time to heal, Carol smiled as she covered Judith with a blanket. His daughter would be safe, and while she would give anything for just one last day with Sophia, just for that moment, this was the next best thing.

And the funny thing was- as Carol closed her eyes, she realized that she could live with that. Of course, she wouldn't have wanted to, but it was through the friendships she'd formed in that close group that Carol Peletier had went from being a victim to a survivor. And in the end of the world, that was rather remarkable, indeed.

The end


End file.
